What Gets Rid of What

llywelyn

Artisan
Clarification 2015.4.9: What Gets Rid of What (added 14 April 2015)

The following are important "remove status effect" abilities:

Dispel (Celestial, ARB 1.2 pg 115):

This effect will dispel all active effects on a given creature or object whatever the cause, whether beneficial or harmful.

It will not remove Wards, Circles of Power, or anything from the Greater Command effects group (Amnesia, Love Potion #9, Enslavement, Euphoria or Terror) with the exception that it will remove the effect of Amnesia if adminis- tered within the first ten minutes.​

In short, when cast on a person: if it isn't in that last half and it isn't coming from an item, then it is going to be removed. This includes prison (eldritch), paralysis (curse), and feeblemind (alteration) as well as protectives such as magic armor.

Purify
(Earth, ARB 1.2 pg 121–122):

This effect will remove all harmful effects from the spirit, leaving protectives. “Harmful effects” includes everything in the effects groups Alteration, Binding, Command, Curse, and Necromancy.

It will not remove effects in the Greater Command group even though those effects are on the spirit.
Like Dispel this will remove pretty much everything on a person that is harmful (exempting greater commands), but unlike dispel will leave the beneficial effects. Note that in both cases it doesn't matter where it comes from: Paralysis Gas Poison is removed by both Purify and Dispel, as is the spell Paralysis, as is the effect from the Paralysis carrier attack.

Awaken (ARB 1.2 pg 110):

This effect awakens the recipient from a Waylay and removes all Command effects but not Greater Command effects.​

Command effects are Awaken, Berserk, Charm, Dominate, Fear, Love, Shun, Sleep, Vampire Charm (ARB 1.2 pg 98). Anything that is not on this list is not removed by an Awaken (e.g., paralysis, web).

Antidote (ARB 1.2 pg 110):

One dose of an Antidote will remove all lasting effects in the Alteration effect group (Feeblemind, Hallucinate, Intoxicate, Laugh, Nausea, Paranoia, and Vertigo). It does not matter how those effects were caused.​

Anything in the alteration group (the provided list) is removed, but it won't touch anything in the Curse group. This means that Paralysis Gas Poison is not removed by Antidote, despite that it is a poison.

Remove <T> (ARB 1.2 pg 122):

These get rid of whatever is in the place of the T above and they are specifically targeted to things in the Curse group. So Remove Paralysis will get rid of your Paralysis, but not your Destruction.

Release (ARB 1.2 pg 122):

This spell will release a creature caught in a Bind, Pin, Web, or Confine effect as well as negating all active Paste of Stickiness effects upon the creature. It will not free someone under the effects of a Paralysis or a Prison.

This spell will remove all active binding effects, including Entangle, as well as handcuffs, ropes, stocks, etc.

It will not unlock a door.

A Hold can be called if you are physically tied up and need time to remove the item constricting you.
Basically: It won't free you from things that stop movement such as Paralysis or Prison, but it will free you from most forms of binding, including physical restraints.

Restore (ARB 1.2 pg 122):

This spell causes the target’s limbs to be- come restored. One casting of this spell can restore all affected limbs.

This spell is also the only way short of a Life spell or a resurrection to restore a limb that has been severed or amputated, or to restore a broken hand or arm.

When cast upon undead, it has the same affect as a Wither has on living victims.​

Note that since Wither is in the Necromancy group, it can also be removed by either a Purify or a Dispel.

Entangle has its own set of quirks which were covered back in March 2015.
 
Clarification: Release does or does not fix Repel (Binding group)?
 
Presuming said caster falls unconscious, hopefully.
 
The initial pushback happens, and then you can choose to do the concentration or not I believe.
 
While I am not a rules marshall, I can answer this.

When an effect is "Baned" or Reflected, the one who baned or reflected the effect is considered the new "caster." (ARB pg 98 "Effects")

Repel as a spell requires the caster to hold their hand up with the palm out (ARB pg 124, "Repel")

So effectively my read would say that the initial break would not happen since the new caster is not holding their hand out. Effectively the spell would fizzle as it would have been "cast" incorrectly.
 
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I presume you get the standard two seconds to enter the appropriate position for the spell, much like Fortress, Sanctuary, and so on, since the casting of the spell puts you out of position.
 
Repel is not considered a binding effect, though....is it? LOL
While a Dispel can cancel a Repel thrown at either caster or victim, release is only for the spells listed in the ARB.
Unless I am missing another post somewhere...
 
Repel is not considered a binding effect, though....is it? LOL
While a Dispel can cancel a Repel thrown at either caster or victim, release is only for the spells listed in the ARB.
Unless I am missing another post somewhere...

ARB 1.2 pg 98:

Binding: Bind, Confine, Entangle, Pin, Release, Repel, Web.
ARB 1.2 pg 122:
Repel: Magic Spell, Scroll, Binding, Concentration
Don't ask me why, but that's what it's classified as.
 
It gets weirder when you hear someone with monster strength "rip free" from a Repel...because it is a binding category effect.
 
It is in an attempt to categorize things, and standardize them. When you do that you find logical in game inconsistency, but game wise, it is logical. You say "With mystic force I repel you!" and thus makes sense to be in the same group as the others.
Though really ripping from from repel is not as common(I actually can;t think of a time where that was the case). as most card state only the other effects explicitly, and thus you can't rip free from it. That's why it is such an awesome spell.
Example: Player made golems can't rip free from repel.
 
Super helpful, thanks David!
 
I'll be updating the spell/alchemy cheat sheets this afternoon to reflect these as well for people.
 
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